Hollywood stars who appeared on Law & Order before they were famous

Jennifer Garner’s appearance in
Law & Order came five years before
Alias.Source:YouTube

FOR A lot of actors, making a guest appearance on Law & Order seems like a rite of passage.

And while many Hollywood stars like Julia Roberts and Robin Williams have popped up in special cameo spots over the years, the show is also a stepping stone for up-and-comers before they hit the big time.

While they’re all household names today, the roles some of these stars played in Law & Order — and it’s incarnates — were quite small. Blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kinda small.

CLAIRE DANES

As a 13-year-old, Claire Danes scored a one-off role in a third season episode of Law & Order. She played Tracy Brandt, the daughter of a prostitute and murder suspect with romantic ties to a murder. A year later, in 1994, Danes went on to nab a role in the series My So-Called Life — which she won a Golden Globe for.

Claire Danes appeared on the series at 13.Source:Supplied

SARAH HYLAND

Before she landed her breakout role in Modern Family, Sarah Hyland made several different appearances on Law & Order, SVU and Trial by Jury. Her first was in 2001 at the age of 11, playing Lily Ramsey, whose older sister was molested by their father.

Sarah Hyland as Lily Ramsey in a 2001 episode of SVU.Source:Supplied

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s appearance in a first-season episode marked the late actor’s on-screen debut. Big screen roles like Twister, Boogie Nights and The Big Lebowski followed, and his Oscar for Capote came 15 years later.

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Oscar came 15 years after his
Law & Order role.Source:Supplied

JENNIFER GARNER

Appearing on season six, Jennifer Garner’s part on the show came five years before she was kicking butt on Alias. In the episode, she plays a graduate student who spends the day with married detective Rey Curtis before sleeping with him.

Five years before
Alias, Garner was on
Law & Order.Source:Supplied

LEIGHTON MEESTER

Before playing the prim and proper Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl, Leighton Meester played a very different character on Law & Order. It was 1999 and 13-year-old Meester was still unknown when she made her television debut in season nine of the series. Playing a student who is thought to have evidence about the death of a classmate, it was far less glamorous than the Gossip Girl years that followed.

Like a lot of actors, Law & Order marked Ellen Pompeo’s television debut. And, also like a lot of other actors, she made more than one appearance on the series as completely different characters. Her first role was in 1996 as Jenna Weber, who survives an attack that kills her brother and mum. After returning in 2000 to play a victim’s sister, it was another five years until Pompeo would score the main role as Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy.

Ellen Pompeo makes her second appearance on the series.Source:Supplied

JULIANNA MARGULIES

The Good Wife wasn’t the first time Julianna Margulies and Chris Noth acted opposite each other. It all began on Law & Order. In the season three episode, Margulies played a military lieutenant who can’t remember the details surrounding the death of a Naval officer. Margulies’ big break came a year later in 1994 when she scored the role of Nurse Carol Hathaway in ER.

Margulies’ 1993 appearance was followed by her breakout role on
ER.Source:Supplied